Police Detains Seven Participants of Action against Renaming of Streets
According to BPF press service
On 10 May the youth protest action against the renaming of three Minsk streets took place in the center of the capital. About 400 people took part in it, 7 of them were detained. Such organizations as Young Front, youth initiative Voka, Youth of Belarusian People’s Front and pupils of Belarusian Humanities Lyceum participated in it. The information about the action was distributed through internet and SMS. The result was a massive flash mob in Minsk. At 7 p.m. about 400 people lined up in Kastrychnitskaia Square and took on fascias with letters SOS. Two riot squad units started to push them to the center of the Square. When the action participants started singing We’ll Come out in Close Columns” national anthem the police started to seize activists. When the action participants sat down on haunches, the police bus moved in their direction. The police detained, Fransishak Viachorka, Paviel Shaviel, Mikhail Vouchak, Artsiom Tsiepliakou, Barys Haretski and two more guys. The detainees were pulled into the police bus with the number KI 6225. The detainees said the police swore on them, threatened, searched and confiscated mobile telephones. In an hour the bus took them to Minsk Tsentralny Borough Board of Internal Affairs and. At 9.15 p.m. they were let go without any explanations or apologies.
Mikhail Vouchak said:
-- Many people are indignant at the renaming of the streets on Lukashenka’s initiative. Today we proved that it is possible to organize a significant peaceful action with the use of the modern communications.
